They are the real storytellers now

Rahat Bano interviews Deepak Sharma, art director, Outlook magazine.

How is the job of a design/visual journalist different from what it was, say, 10 years ago?

The design team is now proactive. It is supposed to take charge of a reporter’s copy. Design professionals are the real storytellers now. They make the story reader-friendly.

So much news and information is available at the click of a mouse. You can access international articles in the latest design, which are more interactive and where you can watch videos, too. The reader is exposed to that.

The Internet is challenging design teams in the country.

What is the range of their work?

They are required to edit pictures, do graphics, and sometimes do illustrations, though there are specialised hands, too, for that. Graphics are an important part of design. Visual journalists need to imagine how the reader would see the story. They have to figure out how to pep up a weak story.

Overall, the work is a team effort made by the design/art director, editors and anchors (section heads).

What skills and interests should a prospective design/visual journalist have?

You should read, look at how international newspapers and magazines are done. You should know picture editing and typography, and have drawing skills. Your reading should span a wide range of subjects and you need to understand these well.

The last bit is crucial, for you can get any kind of story — on business, on hospitals, a court case.

For this, you must know what a courtroom looks like. Don’t go by those you see in the movies. For a surgery-related story, you should know what a scalpel or an operation theatre looks like.

 

Author: HT Horizons

Date: 2nd Dec., 2009

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